Dick Blume/The Post Standard File photo. The Syracuse school superintendent wants to lease space in the old Syracuse Developmental Center.
A deal to sell the old Syracuse Developmental Center and to bring in $1 million in back property taxes may still be alive.

Davico Realty Group of Houston, Texas, said in February it wanted to buy the property, pay off $1 million in back taxes and redevelop the 48 acre complex at 800 S. Wilbur Ave. Davico said the deal was contingent on the Syracuse school district leasing three buildings there. It would be the primary tenant.

When school Superintendent Daniel Lowengard brought the lease proposal to the school board last month, it asked him to come back with other options. The district is looking for leased space in which to relocate students and staff from several schools while they are under renovation.

Lowengard said he’s come up with changes in the lease proposal that he thinks answers the board’s concerns.

Lowengard said he wants to relocate staff and students from Dr. Weeks Elementary and H.W. Smith K-8 school to Developmental Center buildings. He is seeking a 15-year lease so the district will have the space as it renovates more buildings over those years. The state will reimburses the district for 98 percent of the lease cost, Lowengard said.

The original lease would hold the school district responsible for paying the property taxes on the buildings it would occupy, Lowengard said. He had planned for the district to ask the city to waive the taxes, and neither the school board nor Common Council was keen on that idea, he said. The revised agreement holds the property owner, not the school district, responsible for taxes, he said.

The new proposal would require approval by the Syracuse mayor and Common Council, not just by the school board, which is something the school board felt strongly about, Lowengard said.

Last time around, some common councilors were annoyed that they didn’t know about the lease deal until the week Lowengard brought it to the school board.

Also, the school board wanted more information about the owner of the property, and Lowengard said he has collected that as well.

Davico President Chris Davis could not be reached for comment.

In February he said that Davico was partnering with REIT Americas Limited, of Florida, to buy the development center. He said the partnership will be called Health Consortium USA. Davis would not disclose the purchase price, but said his financing is secured. He also said the partnership would lease space to a veterans organization for a call center that would employ 200 people.

The property is owned by Syracuse Resort Development Inc., which it bought for $2.2. million in 2008. It said it would develop the place into a luxury resort for people with disabilities. The city says Syracuse Resort Development never paid any property taxes.